Choking down a wide sized apple, the skin was left hanging over the fence. Driver at the wheel testing the G-forces available. Slight, even during rounds in the underground car park. The lower the level, the more fragrant the rotting produce.
Outside the Entertainment Centre, the milling pills were many and in a constant state of flux. The covers band from earlier appearances were still playing outside the McDonald's. Cigarette butts went flying across the paved areas surrounding as the crowd were gearing up for what was billed as a battle of Sin City. Could not find any explanations as to why, but it was. Taken.
Cross city rivals, the Razorbacks of West Sydney were introduced as we were walking up the stairs. The Kings were getting their spotlights on when the usher threw his arms up in frustration and passed off ticket checks to a woman who had to open up another set of double doors. Just across the half, the fans of both teams were intersecting each other. A great block of the seats at the middle of the U lay out were left barren. A blazer wearing choir sung the anthem amid a mad hustle between the sections of the seats and attempts to figure out exactly where the A and B met.
Standing intimidation was the game as the Kings fans were told to stand up until the challengers scored. Following the tip-off, the Kings scored easy and kept the people on their feet. Close to five minutes and near the entirety of a song ticked by before the majority of the stands were finally seated. Chasing points all the way, the Razorbacks were effectively shut out for the whole game. At one point in the second quarter they managed to touch the lead with a single digit. That was about all of their charges out of fouls.
Half-time. Leading the entertainment were the mini cheerleaders. A misnomer. Older than the usual lot of tiny tots. More on their first years of high-school than primary as would be from the regulars. Back again by the call of popular demand, the acrobatics of the Scream Team. Impressive as they were the last time a little sheen had rubbed off of their performance. Many more mistakes were made and just behind, a man afflicted with some tic kept cheering himself on and how much better he'd do the tricks with a much more vulgar slant.
Kings' Matt Nielsen was decidedly as out of the game as the enthusiasm of the home crowd. Flipped, CJ Bruton and a little Chris Carrawell blasted the points down in the second half. Sweet shots kept coming as their prowess with the ball showed off some fine displays of teasing. Revving the crowd on each move their defensive end held out the advances of the Razorbacks as it had been since the start of the buzzer. Aggressive and brutal, the players from both sides
Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise rewritten to favour the Lion (with hazy lyrics like, this is the kingdome/a place I call home/this is where I roam), even though hard to take as it was, proved to be the mascot's biggest highlight. Worse than that was the announcer's attempts at joking with the actions and calls. When not throwing in, "I'll get that," to balls knocked out of court, he was spruiking the goods of sponsor Philips and linking them tenuously to the team's performance.
Points-wise the game was slow and laboured. Pace was to be found on the foul front. The sport of some collectible card game, each player seemed to rack and rival each other on as many personal fouls as possible. Cheers ran for players with multiple counts and those notching their first were given the sigh of defeated newcomings. Through the boos, the actual calls from the refs bordered on ludicrous with a heavy lean favouring the visitors. At one point, Bruton had his foot held up in the air. Seeking an appeal, he was faced with the ref starting a game of charades. Actions of which indicated he pulled out a card of a film or movie.
Seats were up with a minute on the board and the points suggested no way of comeback from the Razorbacks. With under a minute before the final buzzer it looked like the game was being wrapped up. Not to be. The Kings slowly made their taunting dribble toward the end and pocketed an extra two points to close the game 96-76. Game one out and done and the crowd shy of a full on effect.
- Kings vs Razorbacks - NBL Grand Finals: Game 3
- Kings vs Razorbacks - NBL Grand Finals: Game 4
- Kings vs Razorbacks - NBL Grand Finals: Game 5
Reviewed on Thursday, 25 March 2004